CEO Mark Pincus made the announcement back in November, but the time has finally come; Zynga will shut down major games in an effort to reduce costs.
The social gaming king will shut down or stop accepting players for 11 games.
Resources will be moved to R&D and also to more successful games. It is clear that the company overextended itself when preparing to go public, putting out too many games in too little time. As part of the plan, the company will also lay off 100 employees, close offices and reduce its investment in "The Ville," the ripoff Sims game.
Over the last year, the company's stock has fallen from as high as $15.90 to just $2.33 today. The company IPOd at $10.
Full list of dead games (via Crunch):
For depressed gamers, many of whom spent many real dollars on virtual items for the games, Zynga is offering free bonus packages in bigger games like CastleVille, ChefVille, FarmVille 2, Mafia Wars, or YoVille.
Resources will be moved to R&D and also to more successful games. It is clear that the company overextended itself when preparing to go public, putting out too many games in too little time. As part of the plan, the company will also lay off 100 employees, close offices and reduce its investment in "The Ville," the ripoff Sims game.
Over the last year, the company's stock has fallen from as high as $15.90 to just $2.33 today. The company IPOd at $10.
Full list of dead games (via Crunch):
PetVille – Shut down December 30th
Mafia Wars 2 - Shut down December 30th
FishVille – Shut down December 5th
Vampire Wars – Shut down December 5th
Treasure Isle – Shut down December 5th
Indiana Jones Adventure World – Closed to new players, shuts down January 14th
Mafia Wars Shakedown – Pulled from app stores
Forestville – Pulled from app stores
Montopia – Shut down December 21st
Mojitomo – Pulled from app stores
Word Scramble Challenge – Pulled from app stores
For depressed gamers, many of whom spent many real dollars on virtual items for the games, Zynga is offering free bonus packages in bigger games like CastleVille, ChefVille, FarmVille 2, Mafia Wars, or YoVille.
